River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 27,262 Shares of MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM)

River Road Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. (NYSE:MSM) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 372,285 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 27,262 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in MSC Industrial Direct were worth $37,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSM. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 465.4% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 19,687 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 16,205 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 3.4% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,636 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 115.7% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,514 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $128,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 14.1% in the first quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 24,042 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 34.2% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 30,438 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,594,000 after acquiring an additional 7,749 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MSM shares. StockNews.com lowered MSC Industrial Direct from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $105.00 to $102.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $110.00 price target on shares of MSC Industrial Direct in a report on Monday, April 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 24,501 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.31, for a total value of $2,433,194.31. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,683,810 shares in the company, valued at $167,219,171.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other MSC Industrial Direct news, Director Mitchell Jacobson sold 24,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.31, for a total transaction of $2,433,194.31. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,683,810 shares in the company, valued at $167,219,171.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.15, for a total value of $1,442,250.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,417,038 shares in the company, valued at $136,248,203.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 247,003 shares of company stock worth $24,121,663. Corporate insiders own 18.80% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

NYSE:MSM traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.10. 423,667 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 488,765. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.16. MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. has a one year low of $88.14 and a one year high of $105.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 2.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 0.95.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 28th. The industrial products company reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.02. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 22.58% and a net margin of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $935.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $946.55 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MSC Industrial Direct Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 9th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 8th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. MSC Industrial Direct’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.61%.

MSC Industrial Direct Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.